How To: Lower Front Tie Bar Install

[bugasm99]

This is a install for a Front Lower Tie bar that, in theory, connects the front of your control arms in the same manner that an upper tie bar would connect your shock towers together. By connecting the two points together you can eliminate the possibility of losing alignment through flex as well as firming up the front suspension.

I chose to use the Black Forest Industries lower tie bar, but the procedure is basically the same for any of the lower tie bars including OEM TT, WRD, Neuspeed, Autotech, etc.

Tools Needed:

- Jack
- Jack Stands (2)
- 18 mm Socket
- 3/4" Socket


The Bar:








Install:

1) Jack the front of the vehicle up and make sure to support the car with jack stands. You will need both sides of the vehicle in the air at the same time to relieve pressure of the control arms and have equal force on either side. You will also want to make sure that the wheels are completely in the air and have no contact with the ground.

2) Loosen both the 18mm bolts on the front of the control arms as pictured below. These will take some force and may require an extended socket to break them free. Once loose you can remove the bolts. The control arms should remain in their place as long as you don't bump them or hit the wheels at all.



Note: The front control arm bolts are tucked above the side splash gaurds making them slightly difficult to reach with the socket. You can either remove the torx bolt to access the bolt easier or you can simply pull it to the side and take your time.



3) With both bolts removed, you can line up the lower tie bar with the open bolt holes. The BFI bar pictured has adjustable heim joints which I needed to adjust in order to get the correct length between the control arm bolts. This is the same for the WRD or old style neuspeed bar. For one like the newer billet Neuspeed bar it should fit as is.

4) Install the bar using the new hardware placed in the old control arm bolt holes. The new hardward is longer and will make up for the added width of the lower tie bar. The hardward included with the BFI bar was 3/4".

Note: Do not force the bolts or use any other tools to pursuade them into place. There is a nut placed at the back of the control arm which can be dislodged if other tools are used. If this occurs you have a whole list of other issues to deal with.

5) Once the bolts are inserted you want to torque them to 52 ft/lbs and then add an extra 1/4 of a turn.

6) You will then tighten the nut on the heim joint so that it is secure against the bar. This will prevent the bar from rotating. On the BFI bar this nut was a 3/4" standard.



6) Once installed your bar should look like this...



Note: It may seem as if the bar is going to hit your lower pendulem mount but there is room. Once the bar is secure and tightened down there will be about 3/4"




Reviews:

5 Miles:

As of my initial test drive I could tell a slightly quicker response to steering and a firmer feel through turns. I am running the original control arm bushings which have a good deal of play in them. With a newer car I would imagine you would feel an even greater increase in steering response.

I will post up an extended review after I have had the chance to drive the car harder and use some longer and faster turns.

30 Miles:

The car does feel noticeably firmer. As I mentioned before I have worn control arm bushings which cause my car to behave in a very sloppy manner over bumps in the road and any rough surfaces. The lower tie bar seems to have tightened up the front end the car behaves much more predictably.

I have not had any issues with hitting anything with the bar yet and I don't think i will. The bar sits pretty close to the lower subframe and I have a good amount of ground clearance.

500 Miles:

I had the chance to take the car through the full spectrum of conditions and road surfaces this past weekend. I started in Manhattan and drove across New Jersey into the mountains where I encountered snow on my return trip. I can say that I am beginning to like the tie bar more and more.

Again I can feel the biggest difference in initial turn in, but I have also noticed increased bite while accelerating out of a turn. The car seems more planted and grips harder without the steering wheel wanting to pull to the outside of the turn. There is no increase in harshness of ride as this does not seem to have any affect on the suspension outside of a turning situation. The front end of the car feels more "point and shoot" then it did before.

Again, no issues with clearance while in the city or in the snow. I took a look under the car today and the bar seems to be solid, intact and unharmed. This is with 1.5" drop.


As always, this is just a guideline and you can perform this install at your own risk to messing up your car.

[bugasm99]

Update with About 30 miles of Around Town Driving:

The car does feel noticeably firmer. As I mentioned before I have worn control arm bushings which cause my car to behave in a very sloppy manner over bumps in the road and any rough surfaces. The lower tie bar seems to have tightened up the front end the car behaves much more predictably.

I have not had any issues with hitting anything with the bar yet and I don't think i will. The bar sits pretty close to the lower subframe and I have a good amount of ground clearance.

[SilverSportNOLA]

Great WriteUp!

I can tell that since you still have the side skirts held on with the torx screws you are not dropped the 1.5" I am. I don't have to worry about that step till I replace them. Wonder how much clearance there is. I just found BFI website yesterday and was eyeing this item up. I have had the poly bushing for the longest time and bought some used control arms to put them in ... but I think the BFI control arms with the balljoints that need replacing and poly bushings already installed at their price is perfect for someone that has been dreading the bushing change for almost 2.5 years.

Hope to hear more updates ... 30 miles in almost 4 hours, you drive too slow!

[bugasm99]

Actually I am dropped on H&R sports and I currently only have one side of the splash guards. I am currently trying to locate a drivers side as well as the lower splash pan to replace the ones that were ripped off about 6 months ago.

As far as the 30 miles in 4 hours... unfortunately I did have to work a little today as well.


On topic: I have the poly bushings sitting right next to my desk as well as new tierod endlinks and new ball joints. I am attempting to refresh all the wear items in the front suspension as well as the rear in order to get some of the canyon carving back into the car. The preinstalled bushings from BFI are great as I too am dreading having mine replaced.

[SilverSportNOLA]

I have heard how much a PIA it is to replace the bushings, and I have access to a auto shop at the base.

I had to remove my front splash gaurds long before the drop ... my car is only dropped 1" since it had the Sport Springs in it before ... so 1.5" lower than a stock beetle. My fronts were hitting the speedbumps at work ... after the drop I had to remove the rear ones ... didn't want to take the bumper of on some of the speedbumps. I can barely tell, but what color is your car ... I may still have my Silver Arrow ones that I removed ... I have a set of black new ones that I will probably sell and take a loss since VW dropped the price of them drastically.

[bugasm99]

500 mile update up top.

[marvins_dad]

Great Write Up....adding to the How-To section...

[BlakeS]

Outstanding how-to/review

I've heard other brands specifically state weather their bars are for manual or auto cars. With a quick check on blackforest's website it seams that it doesn't matter. I'm curious, do you drive a 5-speed or an auto, and do you think it matters?

Thanks,
-Blake

[bugasm99]

I have a 5-speed. Unfortunately I cannot give a definative answer since I personally have not crawled under an auto mk4 to compare. The bar itself sits behind the transmission so I cannot forsee any issues. If anything I would simply think it would make it a little more difficult to install due to space to work with.

Sorry I don't have a definitive answer.

[HarlequinPixie]

I got one of these this weekend.. I was planning on doing the installation, I copped out and didn't do it myself though. I was actually at Black Forest, and they only charged me 25$ to do the install on the Lower front tie bar and new stage one dogbone inserts (yay for not trying to double charge on the labor), which to me, was worth avoiding having to jack up the car and futz around under there. Plus I got to try it out on the way back to Charlotte.

The difference in the handling is incredible, just with this one part in there. I was thinking about getting the strut brace too, but BFI's won't fit a beetle.

For $55 (on website... mine was only $50 in store?) Vs. $140 for Neuspeed's, I give it 2 giant thumbs up. I would give it more, but I only have two.

Oh, and BFI's only fits on a manual. Maybe some of the other designs will work on an automatic, but the one pictured above doesn't.

[noR]

Please use "Manage Attachments" and attach the pictures to the thread. Otherwise we'll lose these photos at some not-to-distant time and your how-to will be worthless.

Great job btw, thanks SO much for going to the effort.

[bugasm99]

why would they get lost? They are part of my own personal web server?

[Th1rt3en]

will this work with a dieselgeek skid plate?

[Th1rt3en]

from the picture it looks like it will work but i would like to be sure

[bugasm99]

will this work with a dieselgeek skid plate?

no it will not. I ended up selling mine since I bought the DG skid plate. The plate however, will tie your subframe to the frame rails and will act as a mock tie bar anyway.